Antti Niemi will be back in goal and expect a lineup change or two tonight when the Sharks try to pick up two points and their shaken confidence against the Edmonton Oilers.

Todd McLellan didn’t say exactly what lineup changes are coming, but Jason Demers came off the ice early enough to think that he’ll be back in action for certain. Jim Vandermeer did not.

San Jose’s struggles are pretty much team-wide these days, but Ryane Clowe is the one Top Six forward who has really been off the mark when it comes to production with only one goal — albeit the game-winner over Philadelphia — in his last 15 games.

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“Things are under the microscope a little more when you lose. But I know if I can produce a little bit more, the team is going to have a better chance of winning for sure. It’s time to make it happen,” Clowe said.

“We’re in a position now where every game counts and I’m in the same position,” he added. “Every gamem counts for me and I’ve got to make sure to start producing a little more.”

Clowe doesn’t have an answer as to why he’s not on track for his usual 20 or so goals with just 13 at this point.

“It’s tough to figure it out sometimes. Obviously there’s ups and down in a season but this year so far, it hasn’t been much of a groove,” he said. “I don’t know why that happens, but we’ve got just under 20 games here to make it happen.
. . . I’d rather have a slow 20 games in November and have the hot 20 down the stretch so maybe we can make that happen here.”

McLellan suggested that Clowe may be going through one of those stretches where a player can try to do too much.

“Clowe is a very noble, honest guy and I think right now he’s taking more on than he needs to. If he just does what Ryane Clowe does – and that’s protect pucks and get to the net – I think he’ll have some success,” McLellan said.

“But if there’s one or two guys in there that really take struggling to heart, he would be one,” the coach added. Then the tendency is to dry to do more and often you get less.

“Clowe knows that. I thought the other night when he scored against Philadelphia, the weight of the world would be off hs shoulders, but it seems to be back there again,” said McLellan who stressed the team still has “a ton of confidence in this young man.”

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******McLellan still plans to be behind the bench tonight, but acknowledged “we’re flying by the seat of our pants. We’re going to go out there and see what happens.”

The opposing coach tonight also knows what it’s like to get concussed on the bench as Tom Renney was hit by a puck in practice this season and ultimately had to miss four games. Renney, it turns out, called McLellan to share the benefits of his own experience.

“He was a real good sounding board for me,” McLellan said. “He relayed to me his experience, not with the accident but with what happened after and his time frame – whether he rushed it or he didn’t, some of his symptoms, what made him feel better, how he dealt with the team.

“I’ve always had a ton of respect for Tom so it was good for me to talk to him,” McLellan added.

When an Edmonton reporter said that the Oiler players found Renney would be repeating himself when he first got back on the bench, McLellan turned it into a joke:

“My wife keeps reminding me that I’ve lost my mind, but she did before I got whacked,” the Sharks coach said.

Tonight, he said, “I’m going to go on the bench, give the bench my full attention and see how it goes from there. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m anticipating that I’m going to feel good, that I’m going to be alert and I’m going to be sharp.”

McLellan also elaborated some in his assessment of what has been ailing the Sharks all season and now in particular.

“I’d define it as chasing the game a little bit,” he said in response to a question. “We’re in repair mode a lot. We’re never fully comfortable with what we’re doing in a certain area of the game. We get our offense going and the defensive part of the game slips a little bit. Then we repair that and the offensive part goes.

“The power play clicks, the penalty kill doesn’t and vice verse,” he continued. “We’ve been chasing our game all year and usually when you’re doing that, you’re not getting enough out of individuals and you’re not playing to your capabilities as a team. The responsibility lies on us as coaches to get that out of them, but they also have to bring it night in and night out.”

*****The Oilers may be long out of the playoff picture, but they give the Sharks and a lot of other teams problems. One reason: They have the NHL’s best power play. True fact. With a 22.1 percent success rate, that’s higher than anybody’s.

*****Finally, not to be Debbie Downer or anything, but with Los Angeles in Nashville and Colorado home to Minnesota tonight, the Sharks could find themselves as deep as 10th in the Western Conference (with games in hand, of course) by 10 p.m.

Players know the standings and the schedule. Maybe that’ll provide just a little added incentive for a team that shouldn’t need any added incentive at this point.

David Pollak

David Pollak has been following the NHL forever and at the Mercury News as an editor or reporter since 1987. For almost a decade he wrote about the Sharks as the paper's Fan in the Stands before joining the sports department in 2001. He became the Sharks beat writer before the 2007-08 season and began this blog at that time. You can also follow him on Twitter at @PollakOnSharks.

I’m tired of everyone giving Boyle a pass. Oh he’s so worn down. I guess he was worn down at the start of the game. When was the last time he made a pass or played any kind of D in his zone?. It’s always skate around backwards with the puck start up ice wheel back start up make a bad pass let your guy out play you for the puck etc. Then give a interview “I was in the right spot bad bounce yea just a bad bounce.” Maybe next time get out of the way and let the goalie handle it.

Doug H

boyle DID clear the puck, but the guy pulled a freaking pavelski and hit it mid-air. he couldve cleared it up to the blue line but that was just asking for a give-away. he made the right play in that situation i think. niemi probably wouldve let it roll by him if boyle let him play it .

i really do think, even with the way we are playing that it will be harder to miss the playoffs than to make them. and you can quote me if we miss out on the big dance.

Carcharodon_carcharias

@CG, I agree, Boyle is done. It’s so hard to watch anymore. Time to tear this mo’fo down and strart over, EOS.

Bdub

#292…This year is the one year too early…Next year is the one year too late. This is likely to get worse before it gets better. We’re so like Ottawa.

tifososquali

CG 301,

“I’m exactly where I need to be, and it’s a bad bounce. That’s all there is to it, and he made a great play,” Boyle said. “That’s just a bad bounce, and everybody was very supportive.”

Sorry Dan…. you do not get a pass from the fans on this one, it was a stupid and lethargic reaction on your part, a younger player who was more ready than you were to start the game, beat you.

Normally you’d get support from the fans if the team was not sucking the way it is now, time to put up and deliver, no more rhetoric on how you need to get better. All fans know that, the press knows that, the whole league knows that, probably many people around the world know that….

If you cannot be mentally ready to play the way is required under the circumstances, perhaps you should ask the coach to sit you in order to diminish the damage you may cause.

tifososquali

and I will extend my sincere apologies to my fellow bloggers for the gross mistake I made on my prediction re last night’s game outcome.

I dared to think that the Sharks would win by a margin of one goal, perhaps a one zero or two one result.

This was purely speculative and wishful thinking on my part, there was no in- depth analysis of the rosters, current standings, the weather, the morale of both teams, recent concussions suffered by both coaches, the menus that were offered to the players before game time, the humidity levels of the stadium or the fact the Cirque de Soleil is in San Jose.

Stupid me, I thought that the Sharks players would actually have the below the belt fortitude to go all out and try to crush the Oilers team, taking into consideration that they played the night before and probably landed in Oakland giving them a short 4 or 5 hour sleep….

Oh well, I hope that you can reach deep into your hearts and forgive me for such a stupid and naive thinking on my part….

dz

@zeke. Good analysis but I have to disagree with you a bit. White was basically replaced by Burns and by doing that you moves everyone down a notch. The guy that should have benefited most from this should have been Boyle. That would have moved White down to a 5th D-role and priced him out. I don’t think anyone can argue a Burns for White swap was not good. (just talking about on-ice, not picks and prospects)

As for Wellwood, a nice player but Handzus is more in the Malhotra mold. I think we all saw a downgrade last season from Malhotra to Wellwood in overall jack-of-all-trades abilities. When you start to describe 3rd line center attributes – good on D, decent size, faceoffs, PK abilities – you describe Handzus.

Assuming we can argue Wellwood/Handzus and Heatley/Havlat as equivalents of some sort, the net change is essentially White and Seto for Burns and Mcginn (now Winnick).

The big change in this season? Havlat has been hurt most of the year! So yes, you expect to see offensive (and defensive) dropoff when you lose a guy like that. The difference between making the playoffs and winning your division is sooo small in a parity-based NHL that it does not take much to send you either way.

I will argue that this team or the team from two years ago is the best combination of talent the Sharks have ever put on the ice. When healthy. Both better than last year’s team IMHO.

NOw, that all said, there are key players that I think are having dissappointing years: Boyle, Clowe, Handzus and Niemi. And each plays a unique role on the team. Boyle is most disappointing because with Burns coming in to play shutdown and chew up ice time, Boyle should be able to concentrate more on offense and be more rested for PPs. I expected Norris candidate numbers from Boyle this season. I’m sure DW did as well.

As well know all too well, the best teams in the standings are not always the best teams at the end of the season. And vice-versa.

puckace

Gdub #286 & 287: Good posts.

Agree with the failure in coaching this year. I like TMac, but he’s just not getting the job done this year. I’ve never seen a PK as pathetic as the one the Sharks use this year. Opposing teams must salivate just thinking about being on the PP against that passive POS style of play. If I were a player, playing that kind of system would just suck all the joy out of the game.

Also am leaning more towards hondr’s slow Joe view point. No I don’t think Thornton is a bad player. Rather, I think his style of play is no longer a consistent way to win in today’s NHL. Speed is the key to winning now. Thornton, along with the Sharks system, is always slowing down the play looking for the perfect pass. Instead of pushing the play and causing the opposition’s defense and goalie to breakdown by forcing them to commit and make quicker decisions, the Sharks slow it down and give them way too much time to get settled and thwart anything the Sharks attempt offensively.

This also effects the cycle game the Sharks try to play every game. Instead of wearing down the opposing defense, the Sharks mostly seem to wear down their forwards without many quality shots put on net. So much energy is wasted along the boards that there is often nothing left to do much at the net. How many goalies have the Sharks made look like Patrick Roy?

Back to Joe Thornton. If he really thinks the Sharks did a good job last night, he’s in serious denial. How he can say the things he does after each loss with a straight face is beyond me.

I know the season isn’t over yet, but for me the season can be summed up with one word.

EMBARRASSING!

Not Again

Hatrick Marleau @294

I would not try and move Pavs at the draft. He is not part of our problem. I would simply try and move Thornton and Boyle to try and stock up on draft choices and to clear cap space. Murray is nice when he can move but that big body and heavy legs catch up with him. Especially at the end of a long season. The best time to move Marleau will be at the trade deadline in 2013.

As far as your thoughts on the entry draft and recently drafted players? You surely aren’t holding out hope for Petrecki? He was a blown 1rst round draft choice and probably will not get any further than the AHL. Doherty still has hope but hasn’t quite been the same player since he was violated in the Memorial Cup playoffs in his last season at Kingston. He never made a Junior National Team in Canada. Irwin has developed well in Worchester so I would like to see him get some time with the big club next year. Probably a 5/6 D-Man at the NHL level though. Freddie Hamilton has come on strong in the last year and is our best forward prospect at this stage. He will probably top out as a servicable third line forward in the NHL. I like him!

Whereas I can’t argue with you that we need scoring forwards in a big way in our system, the upcoming 2012 draft has a treasure trove of blueliners. It is probably one of the richest drafts for defensemen I have ever seen. As such, I think you have to take the best available player with our 1rst round pick. That will likely turn into a defenseman in this draft. Although I love Cody Ceci there are 4 other D-Men that could be available with our pick in the mid to late teens. Jacob Trouba is getting rave reviews from the USA 18u National Team. He has been so good over the last few months that he has probably moved into the Top 10. Olli Maatta is a solid solid defender who truly is a can’t miss at the NHL level. He probably has a ceiling as a 2-4 D-Man but simply is a great positional player. Griffin Reinhart with his NHL bloodlines is big and mobile. I am sure the homers from Edmonton would love to get him into their system though they won’t select him at #2. And finally, there is Derrick Pouliot (heavy sigh). Each time I have seen that kid play alongside our former 2nd round draft choice William Wrenn I am reminded how DW and his scouts missed on yet another early round choice (Wrenn). Derrick Pouliot is a slick skating offensive defenseman.
But, if you insist on taking a forward with our 1rst round pick then Brendan Gaunce from the Belleville Bulls would be the choice. He clearly has an NHL body already and should be a good two-way hockey player in the NHL. I would be good with our future centers being (1) Couture (2) Gaunce and (3) Hamilton.

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